Game, Set
by Libek
Summary: Larxene/Marluxia/Axel. Gaining trust is hard to do. One part in each point of view, complete.
1. Gifts

A/N: The first of three parts. Very few spoilers, but I play with canon a little here, as the scene where Larxene decides Axel's in on the plan would likely go a bit..._differently_. But it's a very mild AU. :D REALLY.

Manipulative manipulation is go, yes? Yes? I think yes.

* * *

**Game, Set  
I. Gifts  
**

  


Larxene had unconventional taste. She had never really pretended otherwise, and Marluxia was very -- accepting of this. He didn't stare, didn't ask stupid questions, and every now and then he would bring her little presents. A circle of brie cheese; a rug woven in the shape of a frog; a pretty bird she could hold in the palm of her hand and squeeze until her clenched fist was wet and sticky. And if he happened to share her taste, he would stay, and watch, and enjoy the beauty of it with her.

It was one of the things she liked best about him.

So when they lay curled together in his bed, naked skin touching everywhere but not the least bit vulnerable, and she mentioned so casually that Axel interested her, well, Larxene knew exactly what to expect. Of course there would be no reply; Marluxia only stroked her hair with those long tapered fingers of his, a little slower to show that he was thinking, but the notion that he might not accommodate her whim never even crossed Larxene's mind. He was considering, yes, but not _whether_, only how.

She knew it might take some doing. She had never asked for a person before, or even a reasonable facsimile thereof. But as she watched that gorgeous smile split his face in two, she knew Marluxia would manage it, one way or another. It was only a matter of time.

*

"He's here?" she found herself asking later, mildly disappointed. In Castle Oblivion, yes, one of only six in the entire sprawling white _maze_ that was the castle's interior, and that much closer to _her_, but where were the chains? A real gift would have been delivered in chains.

Marluxia smiled for her, and she knew instantly that everything was going according to plan. "He volunteered to join us in our nigh exile, so perhaps we were not the only ones... _dissatisfied_ with current management. He could be quite... useful."

That Larxene liked a little less. One thing to play with a toy, another to trust it with substantial things, like it could think for itself. She pressed the line of her body into his, making sure to emphasize the swell of her breasts and the curve of her hip. "Do we _really_ need any additional assistance?"

When he raised his eyebrows, cool and incredulous, she knew his mind was set, and briefly wondered when that had happened, what Axel had done to merit such insistence. She was still fairly new, fairly young, and Marluxia hadn't -- would likely never -- tell her everything he knew of the other numbers. He was patient with her, and fond of her, but rarely helpful in these matters. Some things, he just wanted her to learn on her own.

And the expression on his face now told her that this question would be one of the ones he refused to answer. Axel, and why he might be _useful_ to them, was something he'd expect her to figure out.

"Funny," she said, standing back, careful to be extra flippant in case it was true. "I didn't think we'd have this one in common."

That smile again, wider, sleek and catlike. He offered her a rose, thorns first, and said nothing.

She wondered then if he still meant to bring her the firebrand as a present. Maybe he'd decided he liked this one enough that he didn't want to let her in on the game. Which would have been really funny, hysterical even, and might eventually lead her to slit the man's throat in his sleep. But more likely, Marluxia thought Axel was simply better suited to a different _type_ of game, found these two aims irreconcilable.

She should have given him more credit.

*

It was one of those presents he bothered to wrap. She did a routine sweep, missing the tight high sound like wires snapping that would have been her Ninja following close behind her, and came home hungry for his attention. Wanting his large, long-fingered hands all over her body -- his wide, always-smiling mouth to dampen her skin. She dragged the first zipper down between her breasts and closed her eyes, savoring the moment, the well of sensuality, before she opened the bedroom door.

And there was Axel in her bed.

Larxene paused, clutching her zipper. The joints in her fingers frozen and ugly as the knots in a tree trunk. Then Marluxia swept in behind her, his body a warm hard familiar shape at her back, those hands she'd wanted now curled around her shoulders, and she relaxed very slightly. "You brought him?"

She could feel the smile on her neck, and Marluxia murmured, "He came."

There was significance in his correction, and she wasn't wholly sure she liked its implications. "Did he now."

"He did," Axel agreed, leaning forward awkwardly, and as her sheets slipped away she saw that he was bare-chested and possibly naked beneath them. His skin glistened prettily, and she liked the way he'd kept his hands behind him to sit up -- like they might be bound there.

These implications, she could appreciate. They were enough to make her relax the rest of the way.

"Did you oil his skin?"

Marluxia laughed, low and soft. "I thought you might appreciate it."

She did, and turned her head to kiss him lingeringly. She'd wanted him, his mouth. Nothing else had even occurred to her. And it would be different now, not quite what she had been in the mood for -- she wouldn't let him kiss away her aches or make new ones in more interesting places. But she'd wanted _this_, too. She could adjust her plans. "You're washing the sheets."

The look of brief surprise and then bemusement on his face was strangely steadying. "Of course." A gentle smile with a vicious twist.

Larxene matched it, all brilliant sharp teeth like a shark. Oh, yes. She could most certainly adjust her plans.

*

She took off her gloves first, and her boots, but only because the sheets were silk and freshly clean. Everything else stayed on. The best kind of contraceptive.

Axel did turn out to be tied to the bed. It was touch and go there for a moment, because he always slouched over strangely, and maybe he was just _letting_ her climb into his lap like a good toy, but dragging her nails over slick shining skin, tracing not-quite-painful shapes in the oil, she found the shackles that kept his hands behind him. They were cold to the touch and glittered like black ice. To Marluxia she murmured, "Vexen?"

"He was amazingly cooperative. I think the idea of neophytes in chains appeals to him."

She nodded, thoughtful, and twisted the shackle so it dug into Axel's skin, made him hiss in pain. The ice probably hurt like a bitch. It made her smile. "_Really_. Maybe we should do something about that."

His answer surprised her a little. "All in good time."

It wasn't very explicit, only gave away the barest _hint_ of their plans, and so little of it had anything to do with Vexen -- but Marluxia was always so careful, so precise. He wouldn't have said even that much if Axel wasn't allowed to know it all. Which meant he thought Axel might help them take Sora, and with him...

So this was the other game.

Her fingers slipped and drew blood, blood that did not quite match his hair but was still shallow enough to have streaks of red. She waited for the hiss, but this time there was nothing; Axel only went taut under her hands and made no sound.

"Careless," Marluxia chided softly.

She wet her lips instead of responding and bent down to lick, dragging her tongue through the blackred and tasting the ashes-metal of Nobody blood. He tensed up again, all lean muscle clenching, more than he had for the pain. Interesting.

"What did he say to bring you here?"

Brilliant green eyes met hers briefly, and for half a second they were dead, expressionless with nothing in them but her own reflection. Then he laughed, low and husky and almost sensual. She forgot the emptiness. "He said if I was very good and very lucky, I might get to fuck you."

Larxene cut him again, deeper so it went blackpurple, and decided she liked everything about _this_ present.


	2. Indulgences

**Game, Set  
II. Indulgences**

  


Marluxia liked to bring her small things to play with. He had a certain fondness for the way her eyes lit up at the sight of them, adored the strangely-vicious curve of her lips as she discovered how best to toy with them, and waited, with his breath held, for the instant when she tired of them. Pleasure and cruelty both at their apex. And then, of course, there was the aftermath.

Trinkets that were symbolic, in a way, of the proper courtship they would never have.

So when she asked for Axel, in the way that wasn't really asking, he decided to bring her Axel, even though he expected it to be far more difficult than any of his other little presents. Because she wanted it, even whimsically, and he wanted her to have those few things she wanted. They were few and far between. Because he loved her, in his way.

And because this thing she wanted might have some value for them both.

*

Numbered VIII, Axel had been a part of the Organization for longer than either of them (but never mind how long exactly, for a gentleman never pries), and had garnered something of a reputation.

It was said that he rarely took on assigned worlds, but that when he did he would vanish for months at a time. Saix hissed that he was lazy, insolent, and cared nothing for their Grand Purpose; most of the others, Marluxia had discovered, rarely spoke of him at all.

He was dangerous, on some level. And, the others seemed to feel, not to be trusted.

All of which was perfect, really. For it meant that Axel might be dissatisfied, might be interested in _new management_. That he might even be persuaded to join their cause. And really, what was _persuasion_ but another word for seduction?

He would keep an eye on Axel, naturally. They had to be sure. One innocuous dandelion was all it took to ruin an entire field.

*

In the end, he didn't have long to wait. Less than a week later, when that child Demyx came back from his latest world, Axel interrupted a long, rambling story about tea parties on the ceiling to say derisively, "I'm sorry, I forget. _How_ is this getting us any closer to our hearts?" And when he rose from the table to storm out of the room, there was something very like real anger lurking behind his snide remark.

It was easy, after that. A hand on the redhead's shoulder, coaxing words whispered delicately in his ear, and Axel looked at him, eyes startlingly wide and almost -- almost -- unguarded. As if to say, _A different way? A better way? Really?_

There was, of course, a catch. A small, _insignificant_ favor. But it only made the firebrand laugh.

*

In the bedroom, Axel was extremely cooperative. He shed his clothes on command, went down on his knees without comment and spread his legs helpfully for the oil. He didn't need to be told how to lie in her bed, and he hardly flinched at the ice on his wrists although it was certainly painful for him.

And if Marluxia had mistaken any of it for genuine subservience, he would have worried that Larxene might be disappointed. Instead he reached out, caught Axel's chin between his fingers, and when those sweetly-lowered eyes finally met his own in curiosity, Marluxia told him, "She's going to enjoy breaking you."

For an instant, maybe less, something stilled behind those eyes. Then they widened, startled, and a flush even crept into his cheeks. He looked alarmed, genuinely alarmed, and that, too, was dangerous, because he _wasn't_, and this time, Marluxia recognized it.

Whatever he'd felt at that little pronouncement, this wasn't it. Larxene would never know the difference; most of the others would likely never have known the difference. She was cruel and fierce but not manipulative, not really (so few of them were really _manipulative_), and Axel was good at what he did. Very good, even.

But he was better.

What a relief to know for certain. Marluxia smiled at the red-haired man, generous, and leaned in to press a delicate kiss on his wide mouth. Allowing himself to be taken in by the little ruse. As long as he could tell when Axel was manipulating him, they would be able to trust him. Be able to use him.

Up to a point, of course.

"Don't worry," he murmured, and only just refrained from adding, 'your pretty little head.' "She'll stop before you're _really_ broken. As long as you're careful not to, shall we say, _lay it on too thick_." For she would be furious if she suspected his deception, and she was lovely but frightening when she was furious.

Axel blinked his eyes open, languorous as a dreamer, and said simply, "I won't."

He _wasn't_ really very pretty. He wasn't even classically handsome, like some of the others. But there was, Marluxia reflected, a sort of sinewy beauty to his body as he flexed against his chains, all sleek muscle and long, surprisingly-graceful limbs. With her black silk sheets beneath him, he was as appropriate as a piece of decadent jewelry in a velvet box: bright green eyes, flame-red hair, and now shining skin in the darkness.

*

Briefly he thought Larxene was going to run from the room. She didn't, but he couldn't truly relax until she was settled just above Axel's slender hips, clawing the hell out of his chest like a contented kitten and watching him bleed.

The way he tensed and twisted, little gasps of not-quite pain, was probably making her wet. It stuck in his throat, caught his breath to imagine, and Marluxia identified the rush of blood in his ears as excitement. With, perhaps, an edge of however close to jealousy they could come.

Was this, Marluxia wondered, going to be a problem? He had never shared her with another before, never had this particular experience in either life; was he one of those ridiculous lovers who could not bear to see the object of his affections "soiled" by a hand not his own?

But this feeling, like all others, passed. Instead as he turned lidded eyes to their bodies on the bed, Marluxia found himself thinking with mild amusement about the way she moved her hips, rolling deliciously just so as she leaned in close to cut him again and whisper something nasty in his ear. He might have made her wet, but was the weight of her enough to make him hard, even through this torment? Would he like _her_ enough to forget what she was doing to him?

And, ah, yes. _This_ heat was purely excitement.

Then Larxene sat back all at once, and her tongue slipped out to clean the blackred from her fingertips. She grinned wickedly, and said, more to him than to Axel, "What a good boy." When she moved aside, eyes flickering over to Marluxia as though to share this joke with him, there was a rather noticeable tent in the sheets between the redhead's legs. One question answered.

To his credit, Axel did not attempt to look ashamed. He only gazed at her through his lashes and replied sweetly: "I aim to please."

Larxene widened her smile, and kissed him, but not on the mouth. Against his skin, Marluxia thought he heard her say softly, "Don't _aim_ for anything. Just _relax_, let me do the rest." Her lips curled. "And for _fuck's sake_ stop holding it all in."

*

Beautiful. She was so much more deadly than a million of her gleaming knives. Something poisonous, like a cobra poised to strike. And this part, Marluxia actively appreciated seeing from a distance. He could never get a clear view of her perfect white teeth when they were sinking into _his_ throat.

Axel tried to duck away from her teeth by saying, almost apologetically: "I don't _make_ a lot of noise." His first mistake.

She didn't try to argue with him, or anything of that sort -- it wasn't in her nature to waste words. But she did lift her eyebrows in polite disbelief and lay her hands, palm-down, on his ruined chest. Axel tensed, eyes bright and intent but still not ready for the jolt that went through him, his whole body twisting, his head falling back, the air spilling raggedly from his open mouth.

Marluxia almost sympathized. The little minx had sent a burst of her electricity right through his ribcage, _forcing_ his heart to skip a beat, leaving his smallest hairs on end and his skin very raw. Sensitive. So that this time, when she lowered her head to kiss and suck at the wounds she'd given him, he very nearly cried out.

"There, see?" Larxene was so pleased with herself, almost vibrating with it, as her toy fought to get his breath back. "That's _much_ better." She slid a hand beneath the sheets, rising up on her knees to give his cock room, eyes aglow and more electric than her touch. Taking pleasure in his pleasure as Axel jerked responsively and moaned through his teeth.

"You don't -- play fair," the firebrand choked out, and then his head fell back, eye contact broken.

Only Marluxia could see her simmering delight as she bowed her head to kiss and bite at the edges of one laceration, stroking his cheek when he gave a muffled shout. "If Marluxia ever said I _would_, he was lying."

She knew better, of course. Obvious lies were rarely worth the effort.

But something in the train of thought appeared to give her pause, and she turned away from Axel to look at him as she added, "If you're so worried about _fair_, perhaps you'd rather play with him instead."

It was his turn now.


	3. Sacrifices

**Game, Set  
III. Sacrifices**

  


He couldn't breathe.

There were cuts all over his chest, long and curling into what he suspected were creative shapes. Larxene's very own attempt at art. And he had been expecting that part, but not so much the way the oil stung, or the jolt she had sent through his body and the way it left him feeling weakened and raw.

His arms were twisted behind him, the angle unnatural and, as she pressed him flat to the mattress, distinctly uncomfortable. Fucking Vexen, the ice wasn't making things any easier. It felt like all the skin had been rasped from his wrists, and the ice, instead of numbing the pain, was keeping it fresh and constant and just this side of unbearable.

But the worst part, Axel thought, wasn't the ice or the cuts or even the look in her eye, like she was enjoying every inch of his discomfort. The worst part was the hand she'd slipped between his legs, the fingers wrapped tight around his dick, massaging the blood into it and making his eyes roll back into his skull.

Shit...

"You don't -- play fair," he managed through his teeth, and then there was a hot wet tongue prying open one of the cuts just below his nipple, and he snarled something incoherent.

That was when she said it, and he realized how wrong he'd been, how stupid: "If you're so worried about _fair_, perhaps you'd rather play with him instead."

They weren't anywhere near the worst part just yet.

*

Marluxia shed the coat and the clothes beneath it in one smooth fluid gesture. He was like a living painting, or something; too pretty to be real. Axel's eyes weren't really focusing very well through the haze of mingled pain and bitter pleasure, but he didn't have to see the man's face to know he was smiling. Wide, self-congratulatory, and so very, very smug. It was a look Axel had been seeing a lot lately, every time something went smoothly according to plan.

He matched it when Marluxia was near enough, even struggled briefly to reach for him, as if forgetting the restraints in some shadow of eagerness, and Larxene eased back, settling her hands on her own thighs for the first time in what felt like hours, seemingly content to watch. It probably wouldn't last, but he still couldn't help a little shiver of relief as the pain receded to a slow throb.

For several seconds, none of them moved. He and Marluxia smiled at each other. Then the man's eyes narrowed to pleasant slits, and he lowered his head, lips parting, to -- hell -- kiss him. Before the pressure had been brief, even soft, but it wasn't now. Funny how the tongue twisting insistently in his mouth could remind him so intensely of the way Larxene's had pried a laceration painfully open. Marluxia bit his lower lip, and then even the pain was the same.

"Pretty," Larxene purred appreciatively, and instantly her lover stopped, drew away from him, smiling again but only for her. "Ooh, you didn't make him bleed."

"You know I'm not fond of the taste," Marluxia replied, chastising her as if she were a child in his care. She batted her eyelashes for him, a mimicry of the simpering little wife she would never be, then tugged at the sheets, and he moved aside obligingly.

The sheet had been a comforting illusion, allowed Axel to forget for a while that he was bare and restrained and shined up like a brand-new toy. It had shielded him from their eyes. The weirdest part was how Marluxia was looking at him, when he'd been so clinical and detached earlier that stripping down in front of him had been like getting naked for a doctor. Even now, his gaze was softer than Larxene's, and more bemused than hungry, but there was a definite heat in it, a heat that hadn't been there before.

The man had enjoyed his lover's little show.

Fuckers, he thought, and grinned at them both, spreading his legs like an invitation. "Were we staring or having sex? Because you know, like this," and Axel shrugged his shoulders demonstratively, "I really can't take care of it myself."

If everything hurt, at least keeping his focus would be easier. No danger of enjoying yourself too much if you have to keep your teeth gritted the whole time.

*

Wrong.

The noises coming out of him were kind of obscene. Axel choked them off, and Larxene bit into the flesh of his shoulder so that his mouth fell open and another low groan slipped out of it. He let his head fall forward, and heard her laugh, delighted. A surge of electricity through her fingertips, dragged from just below his ribcage to just above his cock.

The problem was that it just didn't hurt enough. He could still feel the long, agile tongue pressed so disorientingly against that tight ring of muscle. He could still feel the fingers working deep, slicking him up inside with a sickly sweet-smelling salve. He could still feel the long thick dick, fucking him much too slowly.

He'd thought he couldn't breathe before. Now Axel was thinking he might never be able to breathe again.

They had broken him away from the bed, the ice he couldn't melt so fragile when it came to knives, but his wrists were still bound securely behind his back. Marluxia was behind him, holding his hips still and making him blind, and Larxene was in front of him, often simply watching with lidded eyes, but kissing him invasively when he got too loud and drawing blood when he forgot himself and dared to be quiet.

"Larxene..." Marluxia sounded strange, dusky, even strained, but the rhythm of his fucking hadn't changed. No, of course not; the bastard was way too controlled for that.

"Of course," she said obligingly, and pressed up against him, coat and zipper startlingly there, startlingly real between them. Did she ever have real sex? But her hand was on his belly again, bare, fingers tangling suddenly in short coarse curls, and his cock jumped, his hips jerked, and even with her laughter it was hard to remember to be snide.

The spark made his vision go white, and left him numb but throbbing. He was going to come and hardly feel it.

Bitch.

He flexed against Marluxia, twisted to kiss her, and she allowed it with a pleased little coo, forgetting for at least a few seconds what she was supposed to be doing to him. Warm lips brushed his ear distractingly and warm hands settled on his wrists and then stars burst hard behind his eyes as Marluxia shoved the ice into his lower back. His head was spinning, he thought he'd be sick, but he was still peripherally aware of the two of them kissing and biting each other over his shoulder.

"You hurt him, I think," he thought he heard Larxene whisper. "Just for daring to touch me?"

"Displeased?" The deeper voice was noncommittal, neither confirming nor denying but distinctly, endlessly, amused. And still, Axel realized as he caught his breath, sawing slowly in and out of him. He'd never stopped.

Larxene giggled. "Do it again."

Oh god.

*

Every part of him ached. He felt raw inside, his skin too tight. Larxene had perfected this horrible way of stroking her fingers over his sack and shocking him softly so that his whole body jerked and he moaned through his teeth. Then Marluxia, who seemed to wait for this exact moment, would shove in hard and deep, making the world fell away until there was just her fingers, his dick, and the pain as someone squeezed the ice into his wrists or bit an open laceration.

More than once, Axel wondered if he hadn't been wrong, if they were simply never going to let him come at all. If they planned to just keep going until he couldn't think straight. Maybe this was how Larxene meant to break him.

Not the most pleasant thought. He tipped his head back against Marluxia's collar bones and let himself moan thinly like a whore. "You're gonna-- fuck-- _kill_ me if you -- keep this up..."

"Do you want something?" she asked sweetly, and another small burst of electricity went through him. "Say... please."

Or maybe they just wanted to hear him beg. Axel had to fight to keep his lips from curling. Begging really, really wasn't his thing. He swallowed, turned to find the strong line of Marluxia's jaw, and licked it lightly. An almost subservient curl of tongue. He could feel her eyes on him, on his mouth, and even the other man paused in surprise.

It occurred to Axel that if he wanted to, he could clench down now, and Marluxia would crumble, pretty control snapping as the orgasm hit him. Larxene would be furious, and in her heat she would shock him so hard that he'd finally come. He wouldn't have to beg.

And they'd never believe he'd really wanted to be there.

He lowered his eyes, not for the first time tonight, and murmured, "Please." The fact that his breathing was thick and labored helped the pitiful sound, but he wasn't going for that, didn't want that. He let his voice trail away to the softest husk and added, pleasantly, "I'm so close -- so fucking hard -- it wouldn't, mm, take much... Just -- a little _squeeze_, or a few _hard_ thrusts..."

He wasn't sure it had been enough, but looking up at Larxene with that imitated hesitation, he could tell that he had said exactly the right thing. She dipped her head ever so slightly in assent, and then -- then--

Then Marluxia went for broke, thrusts suddenly fast and wild and... good, if he was honest with himself. Really good, after everything they'd put him through. His eyes crossed and he lost himself in the pleasure of it, more than he'd meant to. So much so that he wasn't expecting it when she ducked her head and dragged her tongue over his sensitive tip and holy fuck the jolt. Everything exploded in a color like his blood, and the relief was intense enough that he nearly passed out.

*

Hours later, he could still feel her hand on his cheek, stroking it as she informed him that he had been a very good boy but not quite good enough to fuck her. Axel had smiled at her, so disappointed, and suggested lightly that they'd have to do this again sometime so he could try again. She was charmed, and Marluxia, watching him a little closer than he liked, seemed to find nothing terribly suspicious in his interest.

Then they'd kissed him, full on the mouth, one after the other, and he could still taste that, too.

Axel spread out on his own bed, freshly showered, and gazed up at the ceiling for a few seconds. Letting himself feel the filth, the horror, so intensely that he might have been a Somebody with torn clothes and tears all down his chin.

He could only hold onto the feeling for so long before he had to laugh. Whatever they'd done to him, they were going to pay for it, weren't they? Several times over.

  


**End**


End file.
